There has been a 44% increase in funding for home support services right across the Midlands, including Laois.
There has been an extra allocation of €20,367,300 which will bring the funding available to €66,175,216 up from €45,807,916 in 2020.
The HSE Home Support Service (formerly called the Home Help Service or Home Care Package Scheme) aims to support older people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible and to support informal carers.
The Home Support Service provides you with support for everyday tasks including getting in and out of bed; dressing and undressing and personal care such as showering and shaving.
According to Minister of State Sean Fleming, this increased funding by the government is to ‘address the home support waiting list in the older services section across the Leinster region which includes the four midland counties, Meath and Louth’.
As part of ensuring that there is a better delivery in home support services, the Fianna Fail TD says it is important to structure the locations where this can be managed in each of the counties.
Mr Fleming said: “As a result of this there will be a dedicated Home Support Manager and three supporting staff specifically for the South Laois area and there will also be three staff for the North Laois/East Offaly area and there will be one Home Support Manager covering these areas.
“In all, there will be 7 staff to manage the service.
“This will ensure that the service is delivered in a more timely manner to those people who need home support and that this decision can be made much more quickly and people given urgent priority.
“It is good to see that the areas are broken down to smaller areas rather than being dealt with on a regional basis.
“This means that the people who are making the decisions will be much closer to the people who actually need it which will result in major improvements to the people requiring this service arising from the massive increase in funding that has been announced.
“Finally, the cost of these extra staff will be only a tiny proportion of the actual increase in budget for the region and it will ensure that everybody gets the best service and from this funding.”
In addition, the HSE said: “Significant work has been undertaken in recent months to address Home Support waiting lists in Older Person Services across the CHO, implementing a standardised and consistent approach.
“As a result the waiting list for Home Support services has decreased significantly. As of the 31st March 2021 the total number of people waiting for Home Support in Older Person Services is 218.
“Work continues to further improve this with close monitoring arrangements in place and recruitment of additional carers across the CHO progressing.”
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